Stop the Fracked Gas Pipeline

Protect Geprags Park from the Pipeline

If you haven’t heard yet, the Hinesburg Select Board met on Monday, March 21st and decided not to ratify the agreement previously made with Vermont Gas Systems in 2014 for an easement through Geprags Park! Residents of Hinesburg opposed to the pipeline presented the Select Board with a petition with over 450 signatures, and they poked holes in supposed project benefits claimed by Vermont Gas. For residents of Hinesburg, their struggle to protect their park is not yet over, and they need your help. Please join their efforts and donate at the link below!

*The Peace & Justice Center is the host of the legal defense fund for Protect Geprags Park. Donations can also be sent via mail to Peace & Justice Center, 60 Lake Street, Suite 1C, Burlington, VT 05401 with “Geprags” in the memo line.

For over two years, Vermonters have fought a fracked gas pipeline that will threaten landowners, increase rates for customers, and release methane into the atmosphere. It will also lock Vermont into fossil fuel use for the foreseeable future–the pipeline isn’t a bridge to a liveable future; it’s a gangplank to climate catastrophe.

Fracking is so destructive and morally reprehensible that it has been banned in Vermont, so how can we support bringing in fracked gas from outside Vermont?

We have defeated Phase II of the project and are continuing to protest Phase I through ratepayer complaints, direct actions, and legal battles. Due to grassroots organizing efforts and widespread opposition to the pipeline project, the Public Service Board held hearings to decide whether to reconsider the Certificate of Public Good granted to VGS for the pipeline. A decision has not yet been reached.

350Vermont submitted an amicus brief on July 8th urging the Public Service Board (PSB)

The brief urges PSB to reconsider the Certificate of Public Good for the Addison Natural Gas Project, addressing issues raised by the public that were not fully developed in the technical hearings in late June.

“Just after the official hearings ended, Rising Tide, Just Power and other activist groups were beginning a planned all-night protest outside the Public Service Board’s headquarters at 112 State St. Starting around 4:30 p.m., about 100 protesters marched around the building. They planned a “truth-in” vigil to start after dark in observance of people around the world who have lost their homes as a result of fracking.”

“Hundreds of environmental protesters occupied the governor’s office on Monday, demanding that Gov. Peter Shumlin reverse his support for the natural gas pipeline through Addison County, and oppose any other fossil fuel infrastructure projects in Vermont…”

“More than 500 people from throughout the state packed the Middlebury Union Middle School gym on Tuesday to weigh in on a proposed 43-mile natural gas pipeline, with most of the commenters urging the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) to deny Vermont Gas Systems the permit.”

“While natural gas proponents often characterize it as a bridge to a cleaner energy future, opponents cite the environmental concerns and say its more like a gangplank. Several speakers Tuesday night capitalized on that image to appear before the board as characters from the Disney film Peter Pan, which featured the pirate Captain Hook.”

“People entering Champlain Valley Union High School for the Public Service Board hearing Thursday encountered an orderly rally of climate activists, farmers and students, some holding a 10-foot-long banner stating, ‘NO PIPELINES. The Climate is in Crisis.'”